bio(s)

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 An inventor turned investor, and now futurist and professor, Mike Bechtel works to make sense of what’s new and next in tech. His goal: Helping today’s leaders arrive at their preferred tomorrows slightly ahead of schedule.

A sought-after keynote speaker, Mike's rare mix of technical understanding, business savvy, and charismatic storytelling finds him giving over 100 keynotes a year to international business, government, and academic audiences. 

A prolific writer, his perspectives have been published in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, the World Economic Forum, Wired, NPR, Reuters, Business Insider, and Inc. Magazine. 

Mike also serves as an adjunct professor teaching corporate innovation at the University of Notre Dame.

From 2020‑2025, he served as Chief Futurist for Deloitte Consulting, founding and directing NExT, a global research studio that advised the boards, C‑suites, and tech teams of the world's most successful organizations. Their flagship annual report, Deloitte Tech Trends, continues to be the professional‑services industry’s most widely read and cited publication.

In 2013, Mike co-founded and served as Managing Director of Ringleader Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups that had (intentionally or not) built simple solutions to complex corporate challenges.

Prior to Ringleader, Mike served as Chief Technology Officer at Start Early (then the Ounce of Prevention Fund), a not-for-profit committed to the idea that all children - particularly those born into poverty - have quality early childhood experiences in the crucial first five years of life.

Mike began his career with Accenture Labs, where his team helped Fortune 500 clients put emerging technologies to profitable use. 12 years (and 12 U.S. patents) later, he was named the firm’s first Global Innovation Director, where he was charged with creating a strategy, process, and culture to foster company-wide intrapreneurship.

Mike graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1998 with a double major in anthropology & political science, and a minor in philosophy and economics. There, he met his wife Barbara Ann while studying together in London. They currently live in the Chicago area with their children and rescue dog Ollie.

 An inventor turned investor, and now futurist and professor, Mike Bechtel works to make sense of what’s new and next in tech. His goal: Helping today’s leaders arrive at their preferred tomorrows slightly ahead of schedule.

A sought-after keynote speaker, Mike's rare mix of technical understanding, business savvy, and charismatic storytelling finds him giving over 100 keynotes a year to international business, government, and academic audiences. 

Mike also serves as an adjunct professor teaching corporate innovation at the University of Notre Dame.

From 2020‑2025, he served as Chief Futurist for Deloitte Consulting, founding and directing NExT, a global research studio that advised the boards, C‑suites, and tech teams of the world's most successful organizations.

In 2013, Mike co-founded and served as Managing Director of Ringleader Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm.

Mike began his career with Accenture Labs, where his team helped Fortune 500 clients put emerging technologies to profitable use. 12 years (and 12 U.S. patents) later, he was named the firm’s first Global Innovation Director.

An inventor turned investor, and now futurist and professor, Mike Bechtel works to make sense of what’s new and next in tech. His goal: Helping today’s leaders arrive at their preferred tomorrows slightly ahead of schedule.

 A sought-after speaker, Mike's rare mix of technical understanding, business savvy, and charismatic storytelling finds him giving over 100 keynotes a year to international business, government, and academic audiences. 

Over his career at the forefront of "all-things-newfangled" (Chief Futurist at Deloitte, Global Innovation Director at Accenture, Venture Capital co-founder, and Professor at the University of Notre Dame), Mike has had a front row seat to the future for over 25 years.